LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 4, 2016-- ADTRAN®, Inc., (NASDAQ: ADTN), a leading provider of next-generation open networking solutions, announced today that it has extended its successful Enabling Communities, Connecting Lives (ECCL) program to the entire EMEA region. ECCL will be a useful support program of the European Commission’s recently announced Connectivity for a European Gigabit Society Initiative. ADTRAN’s ECCL program has already fostered economic development and transformation in a growing number of communities in North America through the sustainable delivery of ultrafast and Gigabit broadband services, driven by ADTRAN’s FTTP, G.fast and VDSL vectoring solutions. From an operator deployment and community engagement standpoint, it can serve as a model for network operators throughout EMEA that want to leverage best practices, understand market impact and create partnerships that can help drive adoption.

“Communities, network operators and equipment vendors must work together if the European Commission’s vision of Digital Single Market will become a reality,” said Tony Shortall, director at Telage and former economic advisor to the European Commission. “Ultrafast broadband connections will be the linchpin of a globally connected, data-driven economy across Europe and the world. ADTRAN has demonstrated its ability to help operators make a positive and long-term impact on their respective communities and I’d expect them to play a larger role as the European market develops.”

According to a recent survey of ADTRAN’s ECCL service provider customers, the primary community segments that have adopted these types of services include education, healthcare and the residential market. These service providers have also indicated that the primary driver for deploying Gigabit and other ultrafast services has shifted. In 2014, only 30% of respondents were deploying Gigabit as a driver for economic growth. In 2016, over 60% of respondents cite economic growth as a key driver for deployments. In addition, service providers are finding that once Gigabit is deployed the market for Wi-Fi, smart home devices and services and over the top (OTT) managed services become relevant.

With the European Commission’s focus on schools, transport hubs and main providers of public services as well as digitally intensive enterprises, ADTRAN’s results should help underscore the relevance and opportunity of bringing ultrafast services to communities throughout EMEA. ADTRAN’s ability to help any network operator create a positive and long-term impact on its community with these types of services is well documented. In a little over two years, the ECCL program has benefited over 350 communities in North America, engaging every kind of service provider, including incumbent and competitive local exchange carriers, utility companies, MSOs and land developers. Each has capitalized on ADTRAN’s fibre-based Gigabit broadband and other ultra-broadband solutions to reinvigorate struggling business and residential districts, connect classrooms with other learning centres around the world and help attract new companies seeking to relocate.

“As service providers in EMEA evolve their broadband access networks to meet demand and gain competitive advantage, they establish superior connectivity with the global digital economy which, in turn, generates enormous value to communities that could otherwise be left behind,” said Ronan Kelly, ADTRAN’s CTO for the EMEA and APAC region. “Our program is designed to support this process of enablement and to identify the best examples, use cases and real-life stories. Extending the ECCL program to EMEA is the next logical step and we look forward to charting its progress in line with next-generation broadband adoption across the region.”

UK-based broadband operator Telcom is one of the service providers being showcased in the ECCL EMEA program. Telcom uses ADTRAN FTTP technology to deliver ultrafast Gigabit broadband services to residential and business customers in cities such as Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow, and understands the impact this has on individual neighbourhoods.

“Gigabit broadband is a huge benefit to society, attracting professionals to live and work in newly developed properties and acting as a catalyst to entrepreneurship,” said Shaun Gibson, CEO at Telcom Networks. “We’ve enshrined a ‘community-first’ approach in our business through a scheme called Telcom Unity, which delivers free public Wi-Fi to local areas, and we even subsidize the cost of local business connections to worthy public and non-profit organisations. ADTRAN’s technology is integral to delivering this capability and we welcome the opportunity to share our experience for the benefit of others in Europe and beyond.”

About ADTRAN
ADTRAN, Inc. is a leading global provider of networking and communications equipment. ADTRAN’s products enable voice, data, video and Internet communications across a variety of network infrastructures. ADTRAN solutions are currently in use by service providers, private enterprises, government organizations, and millions of individual users worldwide. For more information, please visit www.adtran.com.